Louisiana shrimpers are getting a little more money for their catch - but a lot less of a catch.

The summer has been a roller coaster for the state's shrimp industry. Last month, shrimpers threatened to strike if prices continued their steep decline, reaching levels early this year that hadn't been seen since the 1980s.

But a slight uptick - about a nickel more per pound of shrimp - placated many shrimpers.

"It pacified them from doing anything," Acy Cooper, a Venice shrimper and president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, said Thursday (Sept. 6). "They're kind of good with it, but not good with it, if you know what I mean."

Another concern is the unusual scarcity of shrimp off the Louisiana coast.

The state's July shrimp landings were the lowest for any July in at least 17 years, according to federal fisheries data compiled by the Southern Shrimp Alliance. The 1.3 million-pound haul for July was less than a fourth of the historical average for the month.

It's unclear why the landings were so low. One theory is that heavy spring and summer rainfall and high river flows put more freshwater into the Gulf of Mexico, pushing shrimp into deeper water. Other factors are likely in play, including climate change, pollution, the rapid loss of coastal marshes and the Gulf's low-oxygen "dead zone."

"There are so many factors right now that you can't pinpoint one," said Julie Falgout, Louisiana Sea Grant's seafood industry liaison. "In the '70s, when (landings) were low, you could pinpoint one thing. Now everything's changing so much, from weather patterns to coastal erosion."

Confounding the issue is that Alabama boasted record landings for July, netting 2.2 million pounds of shrimp, according to to the most recent landings report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Texas shrimpers also had a strong July.

But Gulf-wide, the trend isn't a good one for shrimpers. Through July 2018, the total 46.9 million pounds of shrimp caught were more than 2 million pounds lower than the catch for the first seven months of last year, and about 14 percent lower than the historical average, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance.

Some Louisiana-based trawlers didn't net enough shrimp this summer to cover the cost of gas.

The per-pound earnings for small shrimp dropped from about 60 cents to 50 cents, and sometimes as low as 40 cents, over the past year. The late August payouts of 55 cents ended talk of a strike, but bigger problems remain. Rising fuel and other costs coupled with a flood of cheaper foreign shrimp has put the Louisiana shrimp industry on the brink.

Louisiana shrimping communities have fast-declining populations and few young people are entering the trade. Shrimp remains the most popular seafood in the United States, but most of the shrimp Americans eat is farmed overseas, mainly in India, Indonesia and other Southeast Asia countries, where labor is cheaper and environmental regulations are loser.

The Louisiana Shrimp Association has been lobbying for federal intervention. The group is looking to President Donald Trump, who has emphasized U.S. products over foreign imports and has threatened several tariffs he says would benefit American workers. Last month, the association met with U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, with the hope of gaining his support for a tariff or cap on foreign shrimp imports. Shrimpers have focused their appeals on Scalise, believing he is well-positioned to influence the president.

Cooper said the meeting was "limited" but "we got our point across." Scalise offered words of support but little else, Cooper said.

"As foreign imports continue to inundate our seafood market, it has become much harder for our shrimpers, who are largely family-owned small businesses, to compete," a spokeswoman for Scalise said Thursday. "Congressman Scalise will continue to fight for Louisiana shrimp, which is second to none."